Who is Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò? The Nuncio that accused Pope Francis of covering up McCarrick’s sexual abuse

Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò has recently released his testimony against Cardinal Wuerl, Cardinal McCarrick, and Pope Francis. As former Papal Nuncio (ambassador between Vatican and Washington DC), he alleges that Pope Benedict had censured Cardinal McCarrick for his sexual predatory behavior, but that Pope Francis reinstated McCarrick. Cardinal Wuerl was aware of it all, as were many high level Cardinals that he lists in his 11 page document (link below).

Many are asking “Who is Archbishop Vigano?” so here are the details:

I’ll put it in bullet point to save me time formatting and to get you the information:

He was born 16 January 1941 in Varese, Italy.

His brother Lorenzo Viganò is a Jesuit priest.

He speaks Italian, French, Spanish and English.

Viganò was ordained a priest on 24 March 1968.

He earned a doctorate in both canon and civil law.

He joined the diplomatic service of the Holy See in 1973, with papal diplomatic missions to Iraq and Great Britain.

From 1978-1989, he held posts at the Vatican Secretariat of State.

From 1992-2009, he was appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Nigeria by Pope John Paul II.

In 2009, Viganò was appointed Secretary General of the Vatican City Governatorate by Pope Benedict XVI. This made him second ranked Vatican administrator to Pope Benedict XVI

CONTROVERSY IN ROME: In 2010, Viganò was involved in a scandal. Letters by him were leaked. One such letter late appeared in the Papal “Wikileaks” through the Pope’s butler. In these letters, Viganò complained of corruption in Vatican finances and of collusion against him by Vatican officials. Cardinal-President Emeritus Giovanni Lajolo, President Giuseppe Bertello, Secretary-General Giuseppe Sciacca and former Vice Secretary-General Giorgio Corbellini issued a joint statement on behalf of the Governatorate of the Vatican: “The unauthorized publication of two letters of Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, the first addressed to the Holy Father on March 27, 2011, the second to the Cardinal Secretary of State on May 8, for the Governorate of Vatican City is a source of great bitterness”. It continued, “The allegations contained in them can not but lead to the impression that the Governorate of Vatican City, instead of being an instrument of responsible government, is an unreliable entity, at the mercy of dark forces. After careful examination of the contents of the two letters, the President of the Governorate sees it as its duty to publicly declare that those assertions are the result of erroneous assessments, or fears based on unsubstantiated evidence, even openly contradicted by the main characters invoked as witnesses”.

One year later on 13 August 2011, Pope Benedict appointed him Nuncio to the United States. Reuters reported that Viganò was unwilling to take that assignment. It would seem that his willingness to be controversial in 2010 regarding corruption is what made Pope Benedict trust him for the USA.

In 2014, Viganò ordered officials of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis to end an investigation into sexual misconduct on the part of Archbishop John Nienstedt even after two auxiliary bishops explained that the investigation was far from complete. He ordered those bishops to destroy a letter they wrote him in which they objected and told him “this would rightly be seen as a cover-up”.

On 24 September 2015 during his visit to the United States, Pope Francis met Kim Davis, the Kentucky clerk who refuse to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. This was seen as an embarrassing moment for the Pope. It was Viganò who arranged and insisted on the meeting.

On 12 April 2016, Pope Francis accepted Viganò’s resignation.

On August 25, 2018 Viganò released an 11-page letter explaining that Pope Benedict XVI had secretly sanctioned Theodore Edgar McCarrick from public ministry and that McCarrick was rehabilitated by Pope Francis. McCarrick began to appear publicly and also arranged the appointment of key American bishops and cardinals, such as: Blase Cupich and Joseph W. Tobin. If true, it means that Pope Francis has known about McCarrick’s predatory behavior for years…and has promoted him.

PS: In case you missed it, here’s my Youtube video explain how the Viganò controversy actually goes back him blowing the whistle to Pope Benedict regarding the Vatican Bank Scandal of 2010-2011 – which led to Vatileaks Scandal. Click here to watch it.

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About Taylor

I am the author of the Amazon bestselling novel Sword and Serpent: A Retelling of Saint George and the Dragon, and 7 other published books on topic ranging from Judaism, Catholicism, Thomas, Aquinas, and Roman history.

I’m also the President of the New Saint Thomas Institute where we offer online theology classes to over 2,500 students in over 50 nations.

My wife Joy and I have eight children and we live near Colleyville, Texas.